Invisible Privacy | Online Privacy

The trick here is open a bank account in the name of a trust. Once that’s done, you’re all set because your credit card will have an added abbreviation after your last name.

For example, let’s say your name is Susan Wellington. Your credit card will read Susan Wellington TTEE. The TTEE is short for trustee and is listed because you are the trustee for your trust account.

Amazon.com:

Open your account in the name of Susan Ttee. Forever after, Amazon will think that Ttee is your last name. All your book orders will come in that name.

FedEx and UPS:

Never, as long as you live, ever have a delivery made to your home address. FedEx, for example, shares their international database with government agencies. Instead, have your secret books, gold bullion, or whatever, delivered to a customer service center.

In the example given above, order your shipment in the name of Susan W. Ttee. When you go by to pick up your package, show your passport when asked for ID. You may or may not be questioned about this but if asked, show your credit card. A simple explanation might be, “I ordered this online and I had to fill out my name as shown on my credit card. I guess they didn’t understand that Ttee just means that I am a trustee on this account but anyway, the package is for me. My name is Susan and my last name does start with a W.”

Works for me, and it will work for you.

Labels: anonymous name, FedEx, how to hide your name, secret deliveries, UPS

As readers of How to Be Invisible already know, you should never accept mail at your true home address. Routine mail can be received in a post office box and sensitive mail can arrive at a faraway ghost address.

However, some companies irritatingly refuse to ship to a PO Box. (I just did battle with Goes Litho from Chicago about this. They finally relented when I offered to pay extra to have bordered bond paper sent to my PO Box.) But what if the company refuses to budge and yet you are determined to keep your home address a secret?

You can try another supplier. If that does not work, you may think about using the address of a relative or friend. However, that may present a serious loss of privacy. Here is a recent example (names have been disguised):

Burnett Williams, recently retired, sold his home where he had lived for 30 years and moved from Montana to a secret address in Arizona. Given the way the Federal Reserve is currently printing money by the trainload, he feared that a serious devaluation was coming within two years, so what to do with all the cash?

After checking with some knowledgeable friends, he decided to put 20 percent of it into silver bullion. The immediate problem he faced was that silver bullion is heavy and is usually shipped only by UPS. UPS keeps an international database with the address of every shipper and every receiver. Once your address gets into their system, it never gets out.

Williams was not about to let any neighbor or friend accept this shipment on his behalf because the contents (given the shipper’s business name and the weight) would be obvious. End of privacy! He therefore gave the following name and address to the supplier. (This is the address of a UPS Customer Center. Note that he did not give them his distinctive first name.)

B. Williams
ATTENTION — HOLD
1975 E. Wildermuth
Tempe, AZ 85281

When he picked up the shipment he used his passport for ID, since passports never include an address. And if anyone googles “B. Williams,” some 641,000 results will show up!

That is how you too can protect your secret home address when a supplier insists on shipping via UPS.

Labels: ghost address, hide your home address, precious medals, secret home address, secret parcel deliveries, secret shipments, silver bullion, silver rounds, UPS

1. Never, as long as you live, ever have mail delivered to your door again. Use a PO Box for personal letters and bills and a secret “ghost” address for sensitive mail such as passport delivery, real estate tax notices, and statements from faraway banks.

2. Despite the inconvenience, do not have pizza delivered to your door. If you allow that to happen even one time, any PI can get the address by calling the pizza company, pretending to be you, and asking what address is on file for your telephone number.

3. This one is difficult, but never allow an envelope or a package to be delivered to your home address. FedEx is said to share its files with the U.S. government and both FedEx and UPS tie your name to your home address in their databases.

4. Do not give your home address to a dentist, a doctor, a hospital, a car dealer, an optometrist, a supermarket (for the card), or to anyone else.

5. Do not allow your home address to be included on your driver’s license. Many if not all DMVs sell their lists to third parties. (In some states, they may require your home address for their records but will allow you to have a PO Box address printed on your license.)

BENEFIT: If someone knocks when you are not expecting a friend, why worry? It can’t be the mail carrier, the FedEx or UPS person, the pizza guy, or anyone else you need to talk to, right? You might even wish to put this sign on your front door:

KNOCK ALL YOU
WANT. WE DO NOT
ANSWER THE DOOR

The above information is taken from How to Be Invisible (Saint Martins Press).

Labels: FedEx, ghost address, mail privacy, pizza delivery, PO Box, privacy tips, secret delivery, secret home address, secret mail, UPS